What to Do When You Don’t Want to Write
Okay, let me just start off by being completely honest: this blog post is for me.
I’m writing this post to remind myself about everything I can (and should) do to get my fingers back to the keyboard.
I started working on my next book at the start of this year, and let me just tell you: I have struggled! I have really struggled to be consistent with writing my manuscript. I did find out I was expecting another baby mid January, which was a big factor in me slowing down. I was so tired during my first trimester.
If you’ve read any of my posts about writing books with small children at home, you know I’m always preaching about working on your book while your kids are napping or having a dedicated quiet time. But during my first trimester, I joined my two toddlers for a long nap just about every day.
Now that I’m in my second trimester, I have a lot more energy throughout the day BUT my motivation to write has still been lagging . . . and that’s why I’m writing this post. I need the reminder that lack of motivation is NOT an excuse not to write. It’s a roadblock and we have to work our darnedest to push through those roadblocks and get back to the manuscript anyway.
Here are the six things I’m doing right now to push through and continue making progress on my manuscript.
Meet with another writer (or writers)
I’m so grateful for my writer’s group. I talk about them a lot because they play a major role in helping me stay motivated and accountable. We meet every other week, and after every one of our meetings, I’m excited to get back to the page. There’s a certain energy that happens when writers get together and we need to put that to good use! The same is true even if you’re just meeting with one other writer. Talking about writing makes you want to write! And the more people who know about the project you’re working on, the more accountability you have to actually finish. If you have an upcoming coffee date with another writer, create some margin soon after your meeting to write—I bet your creativity will be through the roof.
Delete social media apps from your phone
Can anyone deny the attention-suck that is social media? How often do we lose 30 minutes, 1 hour, and even more because we got lost scrolling content that will do absolutely nothing to move any of our goals forward? If you’re struggling to find the motivation (or time) to write, try full-on deleting the social media apps from your phone (you don’t have to close your accounts) to create just enough friction in accessing them.
Give yourself a goal
Goals are an integral part of accomplishing anything in life. Check out this post I wrote about goals to set if you want to write a book. Word count goals especially are an easy way to motivate yourself to complete a goal because you have a real, tangible thing to work toward.
Choose a reward
Once you’ve chosen a challenging, but attainable goal for yourself, why not think about a fun reward you can earn if you complete it? Obviously, this takes some self-discipline and self-motivation, but I have many writer friends who are highly motivated by rewards like coffee, shopping time, and even sticker charts (seriously!).
Get away
I recently drove three hours south to visit my mother-in-law for 6 days with my two toddlers in tow. I had one goal for this trip: write 5k words a day for 5 days in a row. My MIL is the most supportive MIL I could ask for! She gladly spends long days with my kids so that I can camp out in a coffee shop and try to reach my goal. While I didn’t make it to 5k each day, I did drive home at the end of the week with HUGE progress. I was hoping the progress would help me keep going once I got home (at a slower pace, of course) but to be honest, I haven’t written anything since then (it’s been two weeks). That sucks BUT my husband encouraged me with this reminder: you’re half way done now! I reached 40k words while I was away, which makes finishing this book feel a whole lot more feasible.
Just write
This is some tough love, friends . . . for you and for me . . . sometimes there’s nothing more you can do but stop making excuses, stop looking for motivation, and just start writing . . .
Okay, I’m going to take my own advice and get back to writing! God speed xoxo
